Locking device



Nov. 21, 1939. HEARN 2,180,639

LOCKING DEVICE Filed Dec. 19, 1938 INVENTOR. 77/04 146 44. lye-410v.

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Nov. 21, 1939 LOCKING DEVICE Thomas A. Hearn, Ludlow, Ky.,assignor to The Globe-Wernicke Company,

corporation of Ohio Norwood, Ohio, a

Application December 19, 1938; Serial No. 246,610"

2 Claims.

This invention relates to locking devices, and more particularly tolocking devices for office furniture, such as desks, file drawer casesand the like, inwhich there is a main key actuated in the art as thedescription proceeds, I accomplish by that certain construction andarrangement of parts, of which I shall now describe two exemplaryembodiments.

Reference is now made to the drawing, forming a part hereof, and inwhich:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a desk to which my invention may beapplied.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional View, in perspective, taken on theline 2-2 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a horizontal cross-sectional view through a conventionalmultiple drawer case having vertical and horizontal rows of drawers,showing the application thereto of my invention.

Briefly, in the practice of my invention, I provide one or morevertically disposed rods, and means for moving them arcuately about anaxis parallel thereto, whereby they enter into notches in the drawerrunners.

In Figure 1, I have shown a conventional pedestal type desk, having acentral drawer I0, and a series of drawers II in'the pedestal thereof.The central drawer It is provided with a lock l2, and provision is madethat when the drawer I is locked, the drawers I I will also be locked.

Referring now to Fig. 2, I provide a channelshaped bearing bracket I3,mounted on the rear wall of the pedestal in any desired manner. A secondbearing bracket I4 is preferably mounted on the bottom wall of thepedestal. The brackets I 3 and I4 form bearings for the main looking rodI5 which is formed to have the radius arms I5, the pivot portions II andlid, (which have their bearings, respectively, in the brackets I 3 and Il), and a bell-crank portion I8 extending from the portion IT: atsubstantially right angles to the radius arms IS. The looking rod #5 isbiased in a clockwise direction by means of a spring I9 engaging thebell-crank portion I8 and fastened at its other end to the bracket I3.It will be noted that the upper limb of the bracket I3, indicated atI3a, isshorter than the bearing limb I31), and forms a limit stop forthe bell-crank portion I8.

A lever 20 is bent at right angles, as at 2|, and is thus pivotallymounted in the bracket I3, 5

the portion 2| having a bearing in both limbs thereof' The lever 20.passes behind. the bellcrank portion It, through a slot 22 in thepedestal side wall, and extends into the'central drawer space asindicated at 23. The lever 213 is biased in a counter-clockwisedirectionjby spring 24, the other end of which is fastened to thepedestal side wall. I

The arrangement of the parts thus far described is such that when thedrawer I0 is fully closed and locked, the rear end thereof abuts theportion 23 of the 'lever 20, and pushes it clockwise to a point where itisout of engagement with the bell-crank portion I8, whose furtherclockwise movement is prevented by its abutment against the limb I3a ofthe bracket I3. When the, drawer I0 is unlocked, the spring 24, actingthrough the lever 28, causes the drawer to spring slightly outward, andthe lever 20, by abutting against the bell-crank portion l8, pro- 25duces a counter-clockwise movement thereof, and of the locking rod l5.

The individual drawers II are provided with conventional runners 25, butthese runners are extended rearwardly as at '26, and are equipped with acam surface 21 and a notch 28.

As will now. be clear from a consideration ofv Fig. 2, in which thedrawer III is shown in locked position, the locking, bar I5 is at thelimit of its' clockwise movement, where it engages in the notches 28 ofany drawer which is fully closed. Any drawer which is accidentally leftopen, may be locked by simplypushing it .all the way in, whereupon therod I5 will ride up on the cam surface. 27 against the tension of thespring I9, 4 and will ultimately enter the notch 28 when the drawer isfully closed.

In Fig. 3 I have shown an arrangement, substantially identical inprinciple, in which my inventionis applied to a case having a pluralityof vertical rows of drawers to be locked. In this embodiment, a seriesof locking rods I, corresponding to the rod I5, arepivoted by links I6a,corresponding to the radius arms I5, about the point I'ib, correspondingto the pivot portions I1 50 and I Ia. The various rods I5a are connectedfor simultaneous movement by a bar 29 which is urged toward the left toimpart clockwise movement to the rods I5a by means of the spring I9a. Inthis embodiment I have shown a plunger type lock 30, the plunger 30a ofwhich is connected to one arm of the bell-crank I80. pivoted at lie, theother arm of which is connected to the bar 29. It will be clear thatWhen the lock 30 is unlocked, the plunger 30a will spring outward,imparting a clockwise rocking movement to the bell-crank l8a, wherebythe bar 29 is moved to the left and the respective rods 15a, are movedto unlocked position.

In this embodiment I make provision for the locking of drawers whichhave accidentally been left open, on the drawers themselves. Hookmembers 3| are pivoted at the rear ends of the respective drawers, andare urged in a counterclockwise direction by the springs 32. Thus, if adrawer has been left open after the lock 30 has been locked, it needonly be pushed in, Whereupon the cam surface 21a, cooperating with therod I5a, will cause the hook 3| to rock in a clockwise direction untilthe drawer is fully closed,

whereupon the notch 28a will engage the rod 15a.

by a clockwise rocking of l the hook 3|.

It will be understood that numerous modifications of my invention may bemade without departing from the spirit thereof, and I therefore do notintend to limit myself otherwise than as pointed out in the claims whichfollow.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In combination with an article of furniture having a plurality ofvertical rows of drawers, said drawers being provided with resilientlyrockable hook portions having a cam surface thereon,

a number of vertical locking rods equal in number to the number ofvertical rows of drawers, said rods mounted for arcuate movement aboutaxes parallel thereto and being connected together for simultaneousmovement, means urging said rods to open position, a plunger type lockfor said article of furniture, and a connection between the plunger ofsaid lock and said rods whereby when said lock is locked, said rods aremoved to locking position, the resilient mounting of said hook portionsand said cam surfaces permitting the locking of a drawer by pushing itin after said lock has been locked.

2. In combination with an article of furniture having a plurality ofvertical rows of drawers, said drawers being provided with resilientlyrockable hook portions having a cam surface thereon, a number ofvertical locking rods equal in number to the number of vertical rows ofdrawers, links pivotally connected to the respective rods and to saidarticle of furniture, and a bar pivotally connecting all of said rods,whereby said rods, as a gang, may have arcuate movement about axesparallel thereto, spring means urging said gang of rods to openposition, a bell crank on one of said links, a plunger type lock forsaid article of furniture, the plunger of said lock being connected tosaid bell crank whereby when said lock is locked, said rods are moved tolooking position, the resilient mounting of said hook portions and saidcam surfaces permitting the locking of a drawer by pushing it in aftersaid lock has been locked.

THOMAS A. HEARN.

